Greetings!

Welcome to the Longview ISD’s safety portal. Our purpose for establishing this site is to help inform you of the safety measures that are in the district. However, this is not an exhaustive list because some information will remain confidential and sharing the information could place our students and staff at risk. This site will also continually be updated as adjustments are made from time to time.

Keeping our students safe is our top priority in Longview ISD. It takes all of us educators, parents, students and the entire community to achieve the safest environment possible for our children.

Though our nation has seen sad and frightening violence in public schools over the past few years, we believe that Longview ISD’s schools are the safest place in the community for our students for a variety of reasons.

Please take the time to read the information on this site to help you understand what safety measures have been taken to make sure that your child or children are as safe as possible.

Since safety is a District, parent and community responsibility, we encourage you to notify us with any potential safety issue that you foresee or encounter, so that we can plan accordingly.

There are not any foolproof safety systems, but we can greatly mitigate the effects and damage due to proper planning.

Again, thank you in advance for your commitment to join with the Longview ISD in making this District the safest that it can be.

Standard Response Protocol

Longview ISD is constantly seeking proactive ways to keep the students and staff safe in the many functions, locations and roles that so many individuals perform daily. The District has provided a circle of protection on various levels ranging from controlled access to buildings, visitor management system, safety teams, crisis communication, extensive safety training and conducting safety audits of the entire district to list a few.

When implementing best practices for safety and security, Longview ISD has introduced and trained staff in the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) in the fall of 2017. The SRP is sponsored by the “I Love You Guys” foundation, a Colorado based firm. The evolution of the Standard Response Protocol as of 2015 has been subjected to tactical scrutiny by hundreds of law enforcement agencies and operational review and adoption by thousands of schools.

The SRP refers to four specific actions in the event of an emergency or crisis. Lockout, Lockdown, Evacuate and Shelter-In-Place are the actions that students and employees are trained to perform during an emergency. A brief description of each action is listed below.

Lockout– This would be implemented when there is a threat or hazard outside of the building. Criminal activity, dangerous events in the community, or even a vicious dog on the playground would be examples of a Lockout response. A Lockout recovers all students and staff from outside of the building, secures the building perimeter and locks all outside doors.

Lockdown– is a classroom-based protocol that requires locking the classroom door, turning off the lights and placing students out of sight of any corridor or windows. Students should remain quiet and place phones on silent during a Lockdown.

Shelter-In-Place– occurs when potential hazards are near. Hazards might include tornado, hazmat or an earthquake.

Evacuate -occurs when students and staff must move to another location. Students will leave all but cell phones behind, form a single-file line, show hands and be prepared for changes. Staff will lead students to the evacuation location and take roll, if possible.

We honestly feel that this system of responding to potential hazards will maximize safety for all and will promote a safe learning and working environment.

Severe Weather

Inclement and/or dangerous weather occurs routinely in the East Texas area and, as such, the District has plans and procedures in place to promote student and staff safety. Parents, students and staff members should be aware of the following information concerning the District’s weather related guidelines.

Monitoring WeatherWe have campus staff that monitors weather conditions that may impact the Longview Independent School District. Staff depend heavily on public information that is available on various websites such as the Shreveport Weather Service, weather.com, Doppler radar for East Texas, local news channels and emergency notification systems to list a few. All campuses have weather alert radios and have access to internet-based weather sources. It is strongly recommended that individual campuses monitor weather conditions in their area.

Shelter-In-PlaceLongview ISD has had meteorologist from the Shreveport Weather Service tour all of our school and determine where the safest rooms are for students and staff to be in case of a tornado. Mr. Bill Parker who is the Warning Coordinator Meteorologists and Felicia Bowser, Senior Meteorologist were the experts that assisted in this endeavor. Some of the areas would include certain classrooms and other parts of the building that places as many walls as possible between the students and staff and the outside wall as possible. We also will not have students and staff in locations that have high ceilings or on floors above the first.

School NotificationIn the event of anticipated or imminent severe weather that may impact school operations, campuses will be notified by the District leadership. The District has the ability to communicate with campuses, school buses, and other facilities via a District-wide communication system. Parents can also receive calls from campuses and the District. In the event of a weather emergency affecting all or portions of the District, the District may release students early or delay dismissal until conditions improve. The decision to release students early or to cancel school must be approved by the Superintendent or designee.

Bullying

Longview ISD prohibits bullying. Retaliation against anyone involved in the complaint process is a violation of District policy and also is prohibited. Bullying occurs when a student or group of students engage in written or verbal expression, expression through electronic means, or physical conduct that occurs on school property, at a school-sponsored or school-related activity, or in a vehicle operated by the District and that:

Has the effect or will have the effect of physically harming a student, damaging a student’s property, or placing a student in reasonable fear of harm to the student’s person or of damage to the student’s property; or

Is sufficiently severe, persistent, and pervasive enough that the action or threat creates an intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational environment for a student.

This conduct is considered bullying if it:

Exploits an imbalance of power between the student perpetrator and the student victim through written or verbal expression or physical conduct; and

Interferes with a student’s education or substantially disrupts the operation of a school. Bullying of a student may include hazing, threats, taunting, teasing, confinement, assault, demands for money, destruction of property, theft of valued possessions, name calling, rumor spreading, or ostracism.

Parents and students may report bullying by completing the following form and submitting it to your child(ren’s) school administrators: Bullying Report

David’s Law

Student safety is the top priority of the Longview Independent School District, and ensuring a safe and secure learning environment requires joint efforts between students, parents, employees, as well as our public safety partners.

Senate Bill 179, commonly known as “David’s Law”, makes it a Class A misdemeanor and allows a temporary injunction against social media accounts used to electronically harass or cyber-bully someone under age 18 through text message, social media, websites or other means with the intent of causing them to commit suicide or harm themselves.

Student safety both online and offline are District priorities. The consequences that result from the violation of “David’s Law” are serious and includes expanding the District’s scope of involvement when a case of cyber bullying is reported. Longview ISD’s anti-discrimination policy is in the student code of conduct, and it explicitly prohibits cyber-bullying. We urge parents to continue to remind their child to be mindful of their online behavior and how it can affect themselves and others.

Authored by Texas Senators José Menéndez and Judith Zaffirini, the bill requires school districts to include cyber-bullying in their district bullying policies and notify parents if their child has been bullied and to notify the parents of the alleged aggressor within a reasonable amount of time. Schools have the authority to investigate cyber-bullying and to work with law enforcement on such investigations.

If a student believes they are a victim of cyber-bullying they should report this to a teacher, administrator or other school personnel. Each campus will have boxes for students to anonymously report bullying.

Students and parents can also go online to this Safety portal and locate the “Bullying” tab and complete and submit the “Bullying Report Form.”

Texting and Driving

In recent times, we have read or heard of fatalities caused by someone not paying attention due to texting and driving. Together we should combine our efforts to educate teens on the possible harmful effects of texting and driving. Here are some reasons: Don’t Text & Drive

You could easily pull over

You might wreck

Safety of other is at stake

You’re breaking the law.

Your reaction time is slower

You run the risk of over-correcting

It can wait

Transmitting a message isn’t worth receiving a citation, getting in a collision or putting the lives of others and your own at stake. If you’re not convinced, check out the statistics on Don’t Text and Drive. Please put down the smartphones and pay attention when you’re behind the wheel to make the roadway a safer place for drivers.

Raptor is a visitor registration system that enhances school security by reading the government issued photo IDs of visitors, comparing visitor identity information to a sex offender database, reviewing the same identity for any alerts that the school or District may have applied to a person, notifying school safety personnel if a match is found, and then (assuming no match was made) printing a badge for the visitor to wear while on school grounds.

What is the purpose of the Raptor Visitor Management System?

Raptor helps our schools keep unwanted visitors out while helping them track those that have been allowed in. By quickly alerting safety personnel to certain potential threats, it allows school administrators and law enforcement personnel to take appropriate steps to keep the school, students, staff, and volunteers safe. For valid visitors, the system also prints visitor badges that include a photo, the name of the visitor, and the visitor’s destination. Those badges enable personnel within the building to quickly determine if visitors are in areas where they should or should not be.

Why is the Longview Independent School District using this system?

Safety of our students is our highest priority. Raptor will provide a consistent system to track visitors and volunteers while helping keep away people who present a danger to students and staff members.

'Drug Dogs' on Campus

In our quest to keep all students and staff as safe as possible, the Longview ISD uses canine services for random searches of prohibited items that may be on campuses. The District uses the services of theInterquest Canine Services. The canines will detect alcoholic beverages, firearms and ammunition, prescription and over-the-counter medications.

The campus inspections shall be unannounced and may occur numerous times during the school year. A campus administrator will always accompany the search team during the process. The canines are “passive alert” animals which means that when something is located the dogs will usually sit beside the item in question.

The students will not be in close proximity when the canines as they are performing the search. Again, the safety and security of our students is our number one goal!

Internet Safety

Walking Safety

School Bus Safety

Contact us!

State law does not require schools to post safety and security information on their website due to the confidentiality of emergency plans and procedures. Longview ISD does have an extensive plan that addresses all types of emergency situations and each campus has plans that provide for teacher and student training in all types of emergencies.

For more information on Longview ISD’s Emergency Operations Plans, you may contactDennis Williams, Assistant Superintendent of Administrative and Pupil Services, at (903) 381-2342.

Longview Independent School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, disability or genetic information in providing educational services, activities and programs, including vocational programs, in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; Title IX of the Educational Amendment of 1972. The Deputy Superintendent of District Services has been designated to coordinate compliance with the non-discrimination requirements of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as amended. The Director of State Assessments coordinates compliance with the requirements of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1972.